Tattoo
by alittlenutjob
Summary: Fluff of the Tamra/Morgan kind for Operation: Tonic Water.


"Morgan, that's my car." Tamra pulled Morgan's hand and pointed excitedly. They were less than a mile from her place walking back from a lunch date at a Sri Lankan restaurant she'd never have tried without his encouragement, and clearly she hadn't been down this street before because she thought that car was long gone. It wasn't fancy, but it was hers. Until RayRon lost it. When she looked back at her relationship with RayRon and looked down at the hand holding hers right now she could not think of why she'd put up with it. Morgan didn't even borrow a pen without giving it back, and he certainly wouldn't lose an entire car.

Morgan looked surprised. "You have a car? Then why can't we go to your parents' next weekend? I thought it was too far to go by public transport. Are you embarrassed of me?"

She waved dismissively. "I'm not embarrassed of you. My whole family has met RayRon. You think they're gonna blink twice at you?"

"I don't know! You won't let me meet them."

"Can you focus? That's my car! The black Cavalier with the blue and red bumper sticker."

"So, drive me back to Grandmother's." He'd come halfway across Queens to meet her for lunch and it always mean that a 1 hour lunch was a 4 hour trip for him. He never even complained about it.

Morgan squinted as he read. "The one that says Obama HOPE? Everyone had those. I had like 700 and I don't have a car."

"700? What did you want with 700 bumper stickers."

"I was hoping Michelle would be moved by my dedication and fall in love with me?"

Tamra couldn't help but grin. "You really do have a thing for black girls, huh?"

"Hot black girls." He smiled at her.

She tried not to blush. She knew she was hot, but there was something about the way Morgan said it that felt like it wasn't just about her body, but about her. All of her. She shook her head and changed the topic back to the problem at hand. "Morgan, my car."

They were close enough to see the sticker properly now. "Right, the car with the 'RayRon DOPE' sticker. Is that his face?"

"Yeah." Tamra felt distinctly embarrassed that she'd let RayRon convince her to put that on her car.

"I can't lie, that's good work. I wish I had a cool sticker. Where'd he order that? Can you get that online?"

"Probably, Morgan. I don't know." They crossed the street and she peeked in the back window. "That's definitely my car, see those scrubs scrunched up in the back seat? And hey, my chapstick!"

"I wouldn't use that if I were you." He scrunched his nose.

"I wasn't going to. It's the principle of the thing, I had almost finished a whole tube without losing it."

"Well how are we going to get in without keys?"

"Well..." Tamra looked away and waited for him to take the hint.

"Well what?" Morgan looked confused until she ran her fingers lightly across his stomach. "No. I won't do it."

"Please, Morgan? There's a spare key in the glovebox. We can just get in and go."

"I am not breaking into your car."

"It's not breaking in if it's my car."

"It is, and I will never do it again. Do you know how much stomach tattoos hurt? And when I got this I was a skinnier so it was like being punched in the abs for 4 hours. This means something." He gestured at his abdomen and the tattoo currently out of sight, but always in mind.

"Okay, okay." Her face fell as she thought about how much it was gonna cost to get a locksmith out. Did she even still have any proof of ownership? Would the locksmith even open the car without a title or something? What if the taxes were out?

Morgan's face softened as he watched her internal struggle play across her face. "I'll do it."

"No Morgan I'll get a locksmith to open it. We definitely can't go to my parents' though 'cause I reckon just to get this car back on the road legally is going to set me back half a paycheck. Maybe we can go for the 4th of July or something."

"You think we'll still be together in July?"

She tilted her head at the sincere surprise in his voice and his wide eyes. "Why wouldn't we be?"

"I don't know. I get dumped. A lot."

"Morgan if it took me meeting you to figure out that RayRon was bad for me, it's gonna take me years to figure out you're bad for me." His face crumpled and her heart sank. "Morgan I'm kidding."

"I get it," he said softly but he still looked miserable.

Tamra took both his hands and held them to her chest. "I didn't mean it. You are good for me. You make me feel good. I would never compare you to RayRon. Promise."

The deal with Morgan was that there was no in-between with him. He was never just happy, he was ecstatic, he was never just sad, but full on heartbroken. It could be exhausting, but it meant that she didn't have to play games with him, he showed her everything. As his face lifted and a grin formed the tightness in her chest loosened. "Move, I'll break into your car for you."

"No Morgan, you were right." She touched his stomach briefly. This means something to you. I shouldn't have asked."

He caught her hand and squeezed her fingers. "This means something too."

It was too late, she was definitely blushing now. She'd been a too skinny kid, but her height made people confuse her for older from a pretty early age. She was more than accustomed to attention from men, but not men that paid attention. She leaned forward and kissed him.

He smiled. "Stay here, I'm gonna have to find something to work with." He took off jogging down the street and reappeared 10 minutes later and a paper bag.

"How did you find break in stuff so fast?"

"Just gotta know where to look," he said quietly. "Could you stand in front of the lock so it's not so obvious what I'm doing?"

"Sure." She shielded him while he worked and in a matter of minute the passenger door was open and she held in her hand the spare key to a car she honestly never thought she'd see again. The car absolutely should not have started, but by some miracle it did and she drove him home.

"So, does this mean I get to meet your parents next week?" Morgan's eyes lit up with hope.

"I'll call my mama tonight, tell her we'll be there." She kissed him and he hopped out of the car.

. . . .

She probably should have expected that the first time Morgan met her parents he'd end up shirtless at some point during the day. Her mom cornered her while she was mixing potato salad and asked about the tattoo. "Mom, it just reminds him not to steal cars. It's important to him."

"I thought you said he broke into your car which is why you came this weekend," her mom said skeptically.

"I'm important to him, too."

* * *

**Notes: This idea popped in my head this morning and I wish I had time to expand a little, but it seemed fun and light and hopefully a nice addition to the already fantastic catalogue of pieces for Operation: Tonic Water. Much love to PhunkyBrewster for her fantastic collection!**


End file.
